Can you run away from God?
God asks Jonah to warn Nineveh, the capital of his people’s enemy. Jonah runs the other way, sleeps through a storm, is thrown overboard, and is swallowed by a great fish. Given a second chance, he goes. The city listens, and God forgives it, which makes Jonah angry.
God asks Jonah to warn Nineveh, the capital of his people’s enemy. Jonah runs the other way, sleeps through a storm, is thrown overboard, and is swallowed by a great fish. Given a second chance, he goes. The city listens, and God forgives it, which makes Jonah angry.
Kids make 7 choices, including two where they play the sailors and the king, and stop 3 times to look at the story through different ways of knowing. The ending stays open, just like the book: God asks a question, and the reader answers it.
Ages 5–11
The Bible tells it as something God did, not something fish do. You can say: the story says God sent the fish, and the point is that Jonah couldn’t run far enough to get away from God’s love.
Jonah is a short Old Testament book, four chapters. God sends Jonah to warn Nineveh, the capital of Israel’s enemies. Jonah sails the other way, is thrown overboard in a storm, swallowed by a great fish, and three days later goes to Nineveh after all. The city says sorry, and the book ends with Jonah sulking while God asks why he can’t be glad about mercy.